YOURSAY 'All these Umno-BN leaders who made such demand are nuts. The time for the judiciary to redeem itself has expired long, long time ago.'

'Pakatan must apologise for spurious claims'

Oscar Kilo: I am flabbergasted! Gerakan deputy president Chang Ko Youn is asking the defendant to apologise to the public? For what?

For being framed with fabricated evidence? If anything, it is the persecutors, i.e. Umno, who should apologise for their stupidity.

Ong Guan Sin: All these Umno-BN leaders who made such demand are nuts. The time for the judiciary to redeem itself has expired long, long time ago.

This particular verdict is vindication of Anwar Ibrahim, but a long, long shot for anyone to shout independent and just judiciary.

The very fact that the case was started in the first place, given all the contradictory evidence over Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan's allegation, has sunk the judiciary further.

Garrulous Gary: And who will apologise to Anwar and his family for the two years of mental torture? And to the people for all the wasted money and time?

And to all the doctors whose reputations have been compromised? And to the people who have had to read and listen to all the rubbish churned out by the government-linked mass media?

Quigonbond: Apart from the legal bureau head of Gerakan in Penang (Baljit Singh), is there no other voice in Gerakan that is reasonable? A case (likely with political motives) where a court is independent does not make the entire judiciary independent.

We just need to be reminded of Perak constitutional crisis to understand that while High Court judges are allowed to display some measure of independence, by the time the case reaches Federal Court, it is a foregone conclusion.

So tell me again, why should Pakatan, or for that matter anyone who claims that the judiciary is neither courageous nor independent, need to apologise?

Armageddon: There were so much negative comments about our judiciary, not only related to Anwar's case but also to former Selangor MB Mohamad Khir Toyo which we felt the sentence was extremely lenient if it is supposed to be a deterrent sentence.

We are also disappointed with the no action on Sarawak CM Abdul Taib Mahmud and Umno Wanita chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

Pakatan can apologise but will BN do the same for their inaction of those cases?

Trumpet Call: There is absolutely nothing to apologise about. The political pundits of Umno-BN must have deliberated carefully over the merits and demerits of Anwar's verdict of guilty as charged.

Their conclusion: The backlash of imprisoning Anwar is too great a political price to pay. The repercussions would include a swing of sympathy votes against the government in the next GE and they would just make a martyr out of him.

As Anwar says, 'You can cage me, but not my spirit' . In the final analysis, it's more expedient to free Anwar. Hence, the verdict.

Anonymous: To all you guys who wants an apology and also expect the prosecution to appeal, can't you see we have wasted time and money in the most unproductive manner.

The case should have never been allowed to proceed on such flimsy evidence. It should have been thrown out without the defence being called. Imagine all the money and unproductive hours down the drain.

If the country continues to be unfocused and we continue to make childish demands from each other, we will be bankrupt before we realise it.

To those parties who are desperate and may soon to be irrelevant, please do damage control rather than to continue to raise issues of little substance.

Cala: Gerakan deputy president Chang has erred by arguing that simply because Anwar has been acquitted in Sodomy II, that "the judiciary hence is independent and not an extension of the executive as claimed by Pakatan leaders".

One swallow doesn't make a summer, and we also have Durkheim's social fact that says a much larger sample size will be required to justify such a claim. For the moment, as a Third World nation, Malaysia does not rank high in terms of rule of law.

Cinaputra: Chang, why is there a need to apologise? The whole thing smacks of a conspiracy and if you don't believe this, then you must be naive.

Did you really believe sodomy complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan went to see PM Najib Razak about a scholarship two days before the alleged incident?

I suppose you also believe this regime is not corrupt and that the Scorpene 'commission' was justified and above board? Gerakan is finished, so don't try to get some publicity for yourself.

Bender: But seriously, the whole acquittal episode is just a climax to a game play (the game being the whole trial) that serves as a yardstick for Umno-BN to gauge their popularity. Now they know by slamming Anwar further, they'll hurt themselves more in the coming GE.

They have nothing to lose by releasing him but then can gain a lot of mileage for Najib in terms of public perception. It's true that only the fence-sitters are going to be affected the most by this, and Umno-BN know very well that 15% is all they have got to bet their lives on.

Expect the MSM (mainstream media) to play this undeniable proof of the government's fair play over and over for the next month or so (or perhaps the biggest issue for their election campaign).

But to urge Pakatan to apologise is way out of line. The fact that the judiciary is tainted still remains; Anwar's case is just one that shows an exception (and a fabricated one at that) to that fact.

Today is just a small victory against a still suffocating tyranny.

Not Confused: This is a well-deserved black-eye for Najib and the entire government. The acquittal just shows how BN is terrified of losing even more support (which it would have done if he had been found guilty), making Anwar a martyr.

The political manipulation of the judiciary is still blatantly obvious when all other cases and rulings over the past few years are studied. In this instance, the judge was between a rock and a hard place and thankfully he had the common sense to acquit.

To do otherwise would have been a clear travesty of justice when looking at all the so-called ‘evidence' produced by the prosecution. Way to go DSAI (Anwar) - take the country with you to Putrajaya.

Kgen: What apology? The judiciary remains a whorehouse dedicated to Umno's whims and one brave judge does not change this fact.

PaperRoses: I have been bullied by a neighbour who is stronger, richer and mightier. He slapped me, scolded me and do anything he wishes on me. He would create factitious cases and pin the blame on me and then bribe the police to arrest me.

One day, realising that the neighbourhood is standing up against him, he turned into Mr Nice guy and sent me well wishes and greetings.

However, his friend, Mr Chang, then demanded that I should apologise for calling his friend a bully.

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